Season of Fireworks
by Hanako Tsukiyama
Summary: Revised version! While studying about the Bakumatsu in her bedroom, Kaoru's life is changed when she meets a short, red head who appeared out of no where.
1. Be Careful What you Wish For

**Season of Fireworks**

AN: Gomen! I didn't finish the other version of "Season of Fireworks"! I just didn't know at all what to write anymore! Well, I hope you all like the new version of "Season of Fireworks" in RK style!

By the way, you might get a little confused when you read this… (--')

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Be Careful What You Wish For**

"Kaoru! Quick!"

"Coming!"

A 17-year-old girl with long black hair tied in a pony-tail ran out from her bedroom and raced down the stairs of the two floored house that was situated in the city of Tokyo. Her name was Kamiya Kaoru. She munched down a fried egg and gulped down a glass of orange juice.

Then she grabbed her bag and ran out the door where she saw a petite 17-year-old girl with long black hair tied in a braid that reached her waist.

"Geeze Kaoru! We're gonna be late!" The girl said in annoyance as she waited for Kaoru to put on her shoes.

"Shut up, Misao. It's not my fault Yahiko turned off my alarm in the middle of the night. Baka little brother." Kaoru grumbled as she fixed her skirt.

"Let's go! I don't wanna be in the principal's office and look at Shishio-sensei's mummified face so early in the morning!" Kaoru stated and they ran off.

* * *

-Bakumatsu, Tokugawa Era- 

"YEAG!"

A scream erupted from an alleyway in the middle of the night in the ancient city of Kyoto. At that time of war, it was very common. Blood splattered on the street and the dead corpse's head rolled on the floor.

The corpse lay with its front on the ground. And in the darkness, the dim light of the cloud covered moon shined on what looked like a katana on the corpse's back.

Barely seen by the faint light of the moon, a figure stood beside the corpse and took out the katana from it. The man swung his katana to the side, removing the red liquid on it, and sheathed it. His amber eyes shone intensely and his flaming red hair was tied in a high ponytail.

"Battousai!"

The man with red hair turned around to see a man of the Ishin Shishi coming towards him with a lantern. With the aid of the lantern, an x-shaped scar could be faintly seen on his left cheek.

* * *

-Present day, Tokyo-

Kaoru manoeuvred through a crowd of high-school students flooding the halls of the school. She reached a grey locker that had the number 175 on it and started turning the wheel until she heard a faint click.

As she opened her locker, she could hear voices calling her name in the background. She stuffed her books in her locker and relocked it as the owners of the voices came closer.

A tall, muscular, brown-haired man was the first to approach her. "'Sup, Jou-chan!" "Hi Sanosuke." Kaoru greeted and turned to the black haired woman beside him. "Hi Megumi. Where are Misao and Soujirou?"

"They're already at the cafeteria. We just came to fetch you." Megumi answered as they started walking down the hall.

"Hey, Jou-chan, could you please lend me some money? I kinda used mine all up and I can't buy lunch." Sano said hopefully, clasping his hands together in a pleading manner. "Kitsune here won't give me any." He whispered in annoyance and pointed at Megumi with his thumb.

Megumi just flipped her hair behind her at the comment. "Just because I'm your girlfriend doesn't mean I'll give you money all the time."

Kaoru sighed. "You should stop wasting your money, you know. You already owe me ¥1000."

Sano cursed under his breath and mumbled something about greedy tanukis and kitsunes. This earned him two hard punches on both arms. "Ite! You didn't have to hit me that hard!" At his complaint, his two friends stuck their tongues at him and ran ahead. "Matte!"

* * *

The three friends sat down with their trays of food on a table occupied by a smiling, brown-haired man. 

"Konnichiwa Soujirou!" The two women greeted as they sat down on the table. "Hi, Smiley Boy!" Sano said as he sat down beside Soujirou and swiftly began to gobble up his food.

Megumi looked at her boyfriend and sighed. "Oh well… Anyway, where's Misao?" Soujirou stopped eating and pointed behind her with his chopsticks.

Kaoru and Megumi turned around to see Misao hiding behind a garbage can. The emerald eyes of the petite woman were gazing at the figure of a tall, black-haired man with icy blue eyes.

"Oh! It's her beloved "Aoshi-sama" again!" Kaoru said with a giggle but stopped when she started choking on the hamburger she was chewing on.

Megumi patted her on the back until she stopped. "Geeze, Kaoru! Can't you be careful while you're eating?" Megumi asked with a sigh. "Shut up, Kitsune." Kaoru said in annoyance as she rubbed her throat.

Suddenly, from behind them, they heard a voice ask with much excitement, "Did you see him! Isn't he so cool?" Everyone covered their ears in attempt to shut the noise away. "Konnichiwa Misao-chan…" They all said in unison as the cheerful girl bounced back to her seat.

"Did you see the way he walked and talked? Well, he hardly talks… The way he looks at you with those eyes makes you wanna melt!" Misao ranted on and her friends mimicked everything she said, for she always said the same thing right after she saw Shinomori Aoshi.

"C'mon Itachi! Give up on Shinomori already! That Ice Block would never notice you anyway!" Sano said in irritation as he slurped his ramen.

"Pfft! Just you wait and see! He will one day!" Misao declared confidently and started to munch on her food as quickly as possible.

Soujirou sweat dropped. "By the way, what do you have next? I have Art."

"Ge-owr-affy." Sano said through his chewing. A punch landed on his head which was followed by Megumi's voice saying, "finish your food first!"

"Chemistry," Misao answered before she sipped on her Pepsi.

"English." Megumi replied then continued to eat her food.

"History…" Kaoru groaned and slouched on her seat. "Baka Mibu Wolf-sensei's gonna teach us about the Bakumatsu or something."

Soujirou smiled sympathetically and told her, "If only you switched to Kamatari-sensei's History class in the beginning of this term so you didn't have to deal with Hajime-sensei."

Kaoru pouted. "If only I could! When I found out that I would be in Saitou-sensei's class in the end of the 1st term, I wanted to switch! But my mom forced me to stick to that schedule!" She crossed her arms and gulped down the rest of her Pepsi. "She doesn't know how much pain I have to go through!"

There was a loud ring and they got up. After throwing their garbage, they all bid their farewells and went their separate ways.

* * *

-1 year after the Bakumatsu- 

A short red-haired man traveled alone on the dusty route that led to the capital. His soft lavender eyes shined as he whistled a tune. His long red hair, which was tied in a low ponytail, was flying behind him with the breeze. The x-shaped scar on his left cheek was hidden from view by his long bangs.

His magenta gi and white hakamas were tattered. The little sac that he brought with him was held by his right hand. And, tied on the left side of his waist was a sheathed sakabatou.

As he entered Tokyo, he listened to the bustling noises of the marketplace. People moved around him, even the horse-drawn carriages. Everyone was busy. He smiled at the scene in front of him.

'Not at all like _those_ days…' The samurai thought with a slight smile. And he continued on until he saw a group of men putting up stands and banners in an open area. The sight caught his interest and he moved closer.

A man nearby noticed him and called him over. With a small "oro", the samurai walked towards the man obediently.

The stranger smiled kindly. "You're new here, aren't you? What's your name?"

The red-haired man hesitated before he replied with a steady tone, "Sessha wa Himura Kenshin, de gozaru yo."

The other man nodded towards the working men and said, "I guess you're wondering about this, ne?" Kenshin nodded politely in reply. "Well, tonight is the Fireworks festival. You should stay and watch the festival tonight! It's spectacular!"

Kenshin mumbled a little "oro" before nodding his head. "Hai. It would be an honour for sessha to go, de gozaru yo."

* * *

-Present-day, Tokyo- 

On the 2nd floor of a simple white-walled house, an annoyed Kaoru sat at her desk in her bedroom. She muttered something under her breath about killing a certain history teacher before slouching back on her seat.

"Mou! Hajime-sensei no baka!" Kaoru exclaimed in frustration.

Her bored eyes scanned the page about the Bakumatsu but her brain would not process anything that was written.

A vein popped on her head and she banged her fist on the table. "Darn it! I wish someone from the Bakumatsu could just come here and tell me what it's all about!"

Suddenly a flash of bright light emitted from her History textbook. The shocked raven haired girl fell of her seat in surprise. Her scared voice trembled as she spoke. "Na-nani? What's happening!"

* * *

-Fireworks Festival- 

The dark sky was filled with colourful, flashing lights. Everyone in Tokyo watched the fireworks in awe and delight.

Kenshin smiled in content seeing the joy in each of the people's faces.

'Sessha's glad that all that chaos in the Bakumatsu did something good, de gozaru yo.'

His lavender eyes darted back to the velvet sky as soon as a red beam shot up and exploded into a million little, red sparks.

But just as the red lights faded into the darkness, there was a bright flash in front of the red-haired rurouni.

By instinct, Kenshin immediately crouched in battou-jutsu stance. His amethyst eyes changed to amber with a blink of an eye.

"What's that?" He asked before he vanished into the light.

* * *

-Kaoru's bedroom- 

The light illuminating from Kaoru's book disappeared just as sudden as it appeared.

Kaoru got up from the floor and peeked at her book. "What was that all about?" she asked in annoyance as she sat down again.

Behind her, she could hear a scuffling noise. She swiftly turned around and gasped in fright.

There in her bedroom was a guy with long red hair and a scar on his face. His scarred hand grasped the hilt of a sword. His golden eyes stared at her as if she were ghost.

"Wh-who are y-you?" Kaoru questioned, gripping her chair hard.

'What happened here? Is he going to kill me? Where did he come from?' Unanswered questions filled her mind. She glanced at her textbook and a gasp escaped her lips.

"Hitokiri Battousai!"


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

**Chapter 2**

**The Unexpected Visitor**

"Hitokiri Battousai!"

Kaoru's sapphire eyes mirrored her fright as she stared at the man before her.

'I can't believe it… He's the legendary manslayer from the Bakumatsu!' Kaoru bit her lip as an attempt to stop herself from trembling. 'He might kill me!'

The two of them eyed each other and there was large tension between them.

'Did he come from the past by my book?' Kaoru asked herself.

Just as this thought entered her mind, she felt something cold and hard against her neck. Kaoru gasped as she noticed the golden orbs glaring at her.

"Anata." His low voice made Kaoru's skin tremble. "Tell me where I am. Or else…" He readjusted the sword against her neck.

Kaoru nodded her head and the blade was taken off her neck. He walked a few steps away from her and waited. From the corner of her eye she could see that the sword was not a katana.

"Eh? A sakabatou?" Kaoru voiced her thoughts out loud. Kaoru clamped her hands on her mouth when the boy stared at her intensely.

"Sakabatou…? Oh. I forgot…" The boy mumbled. Then he turned his face to her. "Tell me now."

"It's the year 2005 in May." Kaoru replied in a flat voice. "And right now, you are in my bedroom…"

"So it's not the first year of Meiji?" He asked, his eyes searching her to see if she was lying. Kaoru shook her head.

He closed his eyes to absorb this information. Kaoru tilted her head to examine the swordsman. 'Why does he have a scar?'

Unexpectedly, his eyes opened and revealed lavender eyes. Kaoru blinked at him in confusion. 'I thought he had scary amber eyes?'

"Sessha is sorry for threatening you like that, de gozaru yo." He said with an apologetic smile. "May sessha know what your name is, de gozaru na?"

'Nani? Even his speech pattern is different!' Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "My name is Kamiya Kaoru." She replied stiffly.

"Ah! Kaoru-dono, gomen." He bowed formally and Kaoru raised an eyebrow at him. 'I shouldn't trust a hitokiri, demo-"

Kaoru's trail of thought stopped when she heard her name being called outside. "Kaoru! Okaa-san wants you downstairs!"

"Kami! Yahiko's coming upstairs!" Kaoru panicked then glanced at the red-head.

His eyes altered gold again and he was in battou-jutsu stance, ready to strike whoever enters.

"Anata!" She said, pointing at him. He tilted his head slightly to look at her.

Without thinking, Kaoru ran up to him and dragged him into the closet and shut the door after hearing a confused "oro". "Stay in there!" She whispered just as the door opened.

"Oi! Busu! Get your butt downstairs!" Yahiko told his older sister.

"Shut up, Yahiko-CHAN! I'm gonna go in a second so beat it!" Kaoru said in irritation, planting her hands on her hips.

"Don't call me CHAN!" Yahiko exclaimed.

"Then get out!" Kaoru threw a pillow at him, forcing him to exit the room and close the door to avoid being hit.

Kaoru sighed. She opened the closet door to find the red-head sitting on the floor, playing with a volleyball that was thrown in there the other day.

A sweatdrop appeared n Kaoru's head at the sight. "What are you doing?"

He looked up and replied with a smile, "Sessha is playing with this thing, de gozaru yo. What is it, de gozaru na?"

"It's a volleyball. It's a sport." Kaoru replied.

"Ah! Volleyball, de gozaru yo!"

Kaoru looked at him sternly. 'What will I do? There's a hitokiri with a double personality in my room.'

Kaoru squatted down to face him. "Ne. Don't leave my room, okay? If anyone finds you, I'm dead." The boy nodded his head.

"Okay." Kaoru stood up to leave the room. Just as she was about to turn the knob of the door, she turned around to face him. "Ne, what's your name?"

He contemplated her before he answered, "Himura Kenshin."


	3. What now?

**Chapter 3**

**What now?**

When the raven-haired girl exited, Kenshin sat up from his position on the floor and scrutinized the room with his now golden eyes.

'So I'm in the future now…' Kenshin thought and walked out of the open door of the closet, with the tri-coloured ball in hand.

He propped down on the chair where Kaoru formerly sat on. 'That means that it has been thousands of years since the Bakumatsu…' He pondered in confusion, his eyes switching to amethyst.

'Why does that girl, Kaoru-dono, know sessha then, de gozaru na?' He eyed the History textbook sitting on her desk. "It's because of this, de gozaru yo!"

He dropped the volleyball and flipped through the pages of the textbook, searching for something about the Bakumatsu. His eyes landed on a page which had the name "Hitokiri Battousai" bolded on it.

After reading the paragraph about himself, he glared at the page with scorn, as if challenging it to say more. He continued to do this for 10 minutes until he sighed in boredom.

"When will Kaoru-dono come back, de gozaru na?" Kenshin asked, slouching on his seat.

He turned his head to the side, and spotted the ball lying on the floor. Picking it up, he got off the chair. "Sessha wonders how to play this so-called 'Volleyball…'" He poked the rubber material and examined it from all angles.

He rolled the ball on the floor until it reached the other side of the room. Blinking he crawled toward the ball and sat down next to it.

"Hmm…" He murmured, lifting it up from the ground. Kenshin then dropped it on the wooden floor and watched it bounce a bit.

"Oh! It bounces, de gozaru yo!" Smiling at his new found knowledge, Kenshin lifted it higher then released it. The round object bounced 4 times before rolling on the ground again.

He stood up and walked to the volleyball and picked it up. With a little snicker he wondered, "Sessha wonder what will happen if…?" The tri-coloured ball was tossed into the air until it hit the ceiling. It rebounded from the ceiling and bounced off the floor, then the wall, then the door.

The amethyst-eyed red-head chuckled at the chaos created by the rubber ball.

Suddenly, the door opened and the raven-haired girl poked her head in the door.

"Ah! Kaoru-dono!"

But, too late. The volleyball collided with her head and fell to the ground.

"ITE! Iteiteiteiteiteite!"

Massaging her sore head, she cursed under her breath and made a mental note to keep the volleyball a safe distance away from the man in front of her. Glaring at the red-head, she picked up the volleyball and hid it in her closet.

Once she left the closet, Kaoru sat down on her chair and contemplated the havoc that he made with an innocent volleyball.

Kenshin watched her twitch in anger as she studied the room. Her books were disarrayed; her alarm clock fell from its place; the little group of anime plushies she had were scattered all over the floor.

"Okay…" Kaoru started through gritted teeth. "First, we have to find out what happened then you have to clean my room while I eat dinner."

Kenshin nodded thinking that she was trying to make him stare to death since he hadn't eaten anything for hours. He sat on her bed and faced her.

"You first, Kenshin." Kaoru spoke up. "After all, if you're gonna stay hidden in my bedroom for a while, I should know more than your name and the fact that you're a hitokiri."

At first taken aback that she called him by his first name, Kenshin's eyes turned amber again at the word 'hitokiri'. Kaoru's eyes narrowed slightly at the change.

"I was a hitokiri in the end of the Bakumatsu. But after the war, I became a rurouni and I carry with me a sakabatou now- to atone for my sins." Kenshin replied and glanced at Kaoru. "Anything else you want to know?"

Kaoru nodded. "Out of curiosity… How old are you?"

Blinking in surprise, Kenshin's eyes switched back to its purple hue. "Eh… Sessha is 17 now, de gozaru yo… Sessha will turn 18 in January, de gozaru."

"EH? You're the same age as me!" Kaoru exclaimed in astonishment. Kenshin blinked at her then shrugged.

"Anyway… What happened before you appeared in this time?" Kaoru interrogated the rurouni.

"Well…" Kenshin began, reflecting on what happened. "Sessha was in the Fireworks Festival in Tokyo, de gozaru yo… Then, all of a sudden, there was a bright light and sessha came here, de gozaru."

"There was a bright light in the book too…" Kaoru added.

They sat in silence for 2 minutes before Kenshin feigned a cough.

Glancing at the crimson-haired rurouni, Kaoru questioned, "Nani?"

His now golden orbs glittered curiously. "I told you about me. Now I want to know about you." He leaned sideways on the bed and propped his chin on his palm.

Arching an eyebrow at him, she pondered on what to say. "Well… I'm 17. And… ano… I go to Ajisai Gakuen; in 3rd year high school."

"What's high school?" Kenshin asked.

"It's a place where you learn stuff… But you have to be 15-17 years old to attend high school. There are different schools for different ages." Kaoru explained.

"Do I have to go to high school?" Kenshin inquired, pointing at himself.

"Oh! I forgot!" Kaoru muttered in irritation, slapping her forehead lightly. "Hai… Demo… We still have to find out where you're gonna stay and junk…"

Kenshin tilted his head to the side. "Can't I just stay here? I don't have anywhere else to go."

The raven-haired teenager shook her head hastily. "Iie. Someone will find out and I'll be dead meat!"

The male in front of her was about to say something but there was a call heard from downstairs. "Kaoru! Time for dinner!" As she stood up from her seat, Kaoru replied, "I'm coming, okaa-san!"

She turned to the hungry samurai on her bed and declared, "I promise I'll bring you back some food. But you'll have to clean up the room first." And she exited, leaving the hitokiri to mourn over the fact that he couldn't eat just yet.

Kenshin gritted his teeth in anger when he heard a loud growl come from his stomach. "Hmph… This is so annoying." He mumbled. A few minutes later he asked out of the blue, "What does she mean by dead meat?"

* * *

Kenshin leaned against the white wall, facing the bedroom door. The room was now tidied up and he collapsed on the bed when he finished the chore assigned to him. There was a faint growling sound in his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten for two days now.

'Why didn't I eat in the festival?' He cursed himself mentally when his abdomen ached from hunger.

Grumbling in his mind, he didn't notice the soft click of the door knob. The first thing he noticed was the floating aroma of teriyaki and tempura.

His mouth watered with famine and turned his head to the direction of the familiar delicacies. He saw the plate full of food in the hands of his new female acquaintance and his lavender eyes twinkled in anticipation. Kaoru snickered inwardly at the sight.

"Ah! Domo arigatou, Kaoru-dono!" He said excitedly as she laid the plate on her desk. He rushed to the chair and clasped his hands together. "Itadekimasu!" Kenshin declared before he began to dig into his food.

"So… Kenshin?" Kaoru inquired as he chewed his meal. Kenshin turned to face her and swallowed his food. "Nani, Kaoru-dono?" Kaoru paused before saying, "You're gonna stay with my uncle. I called him a while ago. You're going to his place next week but you're going to meet him tomorrow."

"Hai!" Kenshin said with a smile and gulped down more food. "What's his name, de gozaru yo?" He questioned before chewing more of his food.

"Seijuurou Hiko." Kaoru replied. At the name, Kenshin spat out the food in his mouth.

"NANI?"


	4. The Feared Drunken Swordsman

**Chapter 4**

**The Feared Drunken Swordsman**

"Nani?"

Kenshin stared at the confused raven-haired girl whose eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Her poor wooden table was now covered by saliva-covered food.

With great effort, Kaoru momentarily ignored the food all over the desk and inquired the wide-eyed rurouni. "What's wrong? I doubt you would know my uncle…" She raised her eyebrow, silently commanding him to tell her.

The red-head put down his chopsticks, not even noticing the mess he created, and sighed. His eyes turning yellow once more, happening each time he began to talk of his bloody past. "The sword-style I practice is the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. My master and the eleven other predecessors were named Seijuurou Hiko when they completed mastering the techniques." He scratched his head in contemplation before adding, "I think I'm the only one who didn't take the name or kill my master… The baka cape didn't fit me anyway." He shrugged then turned to look at Kaoru with his lavender eyes.

Kaoru gawked at him before muttering, "Oh my gosh. My uncle is a master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and he has this huge, weird cape with several torn parts…"

The poor little rurouni fell off his seat and mumbled, "Oro… He's immortal, de gozaru yo!"

Kaoru sat in a daze, trying to digest what was now happening. Suddenly she exclaimed, "You mean my uncle came from the past too!"

Kenshin's eyes widened in shock and yelled, "NO!" He got to his knees and begged the puzzled Kaoru with pleading, lavender eyes. "Onegai! Kaoru-dono, onegai, don't make me go there!"

The black-haired girl tilted her head to the side before asking, "Why? What did your master, if he is my uncle, do to you?"

The rurouni just shivered as he recalled his dreaded childhood with his master. "He kept on making sessha do everything, de gozaru yo! Cooking, laundry, cleaning, de gozaru yo! That was such a puny hut and he still makes sessha clean it, de gozaru na! And he makes sessha go to town and buy 3 huge jars of sake, de gozaru ka! Sessha was also forced to train day and night while he sits there yelling at sessha while he drinks sake, de gozaru yo! It was horrible, de gozaru yo!"

Amidst all the "de gozaru yo's" and the "sessha's", Kaoru still somehow managed to picture the terrified red-head's description. That was easy, of course, considering who they were talking about here. In their eyes, Hiko was probably in the top ten of their list of "crazy idiots who must die soon or else the world would become corrupted and chaotic then fall apart." Or maybe the top three.

"I feel your pain, Kenshin." She said sympathetically as she shivered when an image of her forever-drinking sake uncle popped into her mind.

The rurouni's eyes averted back to her and inquired hopefully, "So I don't have to go there?"

"You still have to." Replied the raven haired girl with a blank expression and the poor little rurouni fell over. "Besides, if you won't go there, you'll have to live on the streets because I can't keep you here."

Kenshin furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and a visible glint of gold in his purple eyes, hinting that he was just about to turn into his alter-ego.

"Oh yeah!" Kaoru said as she shuffled out the room and returned with a bundle of clothes in her hand.

"What's that supposed to be?" Kenshin questioned skeptically as he eyed the material in her hands with flashing tawny eyes.

"They're otou-san's clothes but, for now, they're your clothes until we buy you some more when we go shopping tomorrow." Replied the black-haired girl with a grin as she held up a pair of white pajamas, jeans and a black shirt. "And… um…" Kaoru continued, faltering slightly as her face turned a light shade of pink. "These too…" In her left hand was a pair of checkered boxers which she held using the shirt as a separator between her hand and the undergarments.

His red eyebrow quirked up cynically and asked, "I'm supposed to wear _those_?" "Hai." Kaoru answered in an annoyed tone. "And exactly what are those _things_ supposed to be?" When Kenshin asked this, his finger pointed directly at the blue and black shorts held in her left hand.

Kaoru's face turned bright red in embarrassment as she shoved his new clothes into his arms, telling him, "They're your underwear, okay!" She reclaimed her spot on the chair with a huff and snapped, "And would you stop switching from a rurouni to a hitokiri! It's seriously freaky!"

The male just lifted his head to look away from the queer clothing at her with his luminous yellow eyes and asked with a smirk, "why? You like the hitokiri better?"

"Oh, shut up!" A red-faced Kaoru exclaimed, throwing a nearby blue pillow at the redhead. "Go in the closet and change! And don't mess with my stuff!"

"Hai, hai!" replied the snickering male as he scurried to the closet and entered. 'She's an amusing woman, that Kaoru.' Kenshin thought, laughing inwardly as he shed his worn out garments and slipped into the ones he had just received.

* * *

"Are you done?" Kaoru called out to the rurouni inside her closet just as she finished her math homework on her now clean desk.

A silent reply came from the small room, "Hai…"

Kaoru sighed, "Then come out already!"

Then, after a moment's delay, Kenshin exited the closet in the unbuttoned white pajamas.

"Baka! Button your shirt!" Kaoru cried out, a crimson stain tinted her face.

The confused teenager fussed over the plastic buttons unsuccessfully before Kaoru had to stand up and sheepishly do it for him.

"There! You're done." She gathered her own bundle of clothes and turned to him, "I'm going to take a bath now, so don't do anything funny. Don't leave the room and make sure no one sees you." She stopped before saying, "That's were you're sleeping tonight," and pointed to a futon lying on the farthest corner of the room, noticeably far away from her own bed as the Battousai noted.

* * *

Hell once again broke loose when morning came when Kaoru saw the hitokiri sleeping as he leaned on the wall and screamed, forgetting momentarily about yesterday's crazy events and waking up the whole household at 5:30 am, Sunday morning.

Then… After kicking the poor red-head into the closet once more and successfully lying that it was a nightmare, the morning went by like it was supposed to… Until Kenshin had to change again…

After a few seconds of shuffling noises, the door to the closet opened and Kenshin stepped out, clad in modern clothes… Only- his shirt was on backwards and his jeans were hanging limply against his waist, ready to fall off any second. Plus his hole-covered, not to mention filthy, socks were still of his feet.

When a minute of staring had gone by, Kaoru exploded in laughter at the sight of the now embarrassed rurouni and fell to the ground, clutching her abdomen and fighting back tears of mirth.

"T-t-take o-off your so-o-cks." Kaoru managed to utter through giggles. The confuse Kenshin followed obediently and pulled up his falling pants after doing so, activating another eruption of chortles from the woman laying down on the floor.

The chuckles subsided after a few seconds and Kaoru left the room without a word, for fear of another flood of hysterics if she opened her mouth. When she returned, she had a leather belt in her hands and instructed the clueless man on how to put it on.

"Okay…" Kaoru started once the belt was in place. "Now… your shirt is on backwards…"

"Aa… Hai…" Kenshin said and took of the black shirt, forcing Kaoru to turn around in embarrassment, and then flipped the shirt the right way. "Kaoru-dono can turn around now, de gozaru yo."

Kaoru surveyed him before approving his appearance with a sigh. Then she handed him the cloth she used to keep her bokuto in explaining, "Wrap this around your sword. You could be arrested if they found out you had a real one, even though it's a sakabatou." Kenshin nodded nervously, not wanting to see what a modern prison would be like.

"Good. Now that everything's taken care of, we can leave." Kaoru declared with a satisfied smile. "Can you jump far?" Kenshin stared at her in confusion before nodding his head. She pulled him toward the open window and pointed at a tree 6 meters away from it. "You see that tree?" Once again, the red-head bobbed his head up and down.

An evil smile appeared on Kaoru face while she said, "Good! Jump then!" With those words she pushed the wide-eyed teenager out the window. And mind you, this is the second floor.

Luckily, the battousai's instincts kicked in and he managed to land safely, but psychologically injured, on the tree. 'That woman is insane!' Thought the hitokiri as he climbed down the large tree.

A few seconds later, Kaoru came running out of the building and waved at him. "Wonderful! You're alive! It's a good thing no one saw you!" Kenshin's brow twitched in anger and screamed, as he clawed the hilt of his sakabatou through the fabric that covered it, "DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME, WOMAN?"

Removing the hand that prevented ear damage due to his outburst, Kaoru explained innocently, "Well, if my parents find out that you were there, they would have a fit so that was the only way to get you out of the house. And besides, I knew you could make it!"

By now, you could actually see Kenshin's whole body twitching in rage. Through gritted teeth, he started to say, "WHY YOU-" But was cut off by Kaoru pointing at something past him, declaring, "Oh! There's the bus! Let's go!" And without a chance to speak, he was dragged off to the 4-wheeled public transportation vehicle.

* * *

After a 20 minute ride, they arrived at a large dojo bearing a sign that said, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu".

"Here we are! Now press the door bell." Kaoru instructed. The, still annoyed, battousai just stared at her. "Press the what?"

With a sigh, Kaoru replied, "That thing over there," as she pointed at the white button near the post of the wooden gate. Blinking twice, Kenshin muttered an "oh" before walking up to the said button and pushing it, only to jump back in surprise at the sound that any door bell would make. But he doesn't know that.

"What the heck is that?" Kenshin, or rather-the battousai, demanded, tearing of the cloth covering his sakabatou. Heavy footsteps were heard from the other side of the large gate, making the agitated hitokiri crouch down in battou-jutsu stance.

The gate opened and Kenshin was just about to pounce on whoever opened it if it weren't for Kaoru's painfully accurate kick that hit him on the head. "Baka! It's just my uncle!"

From his lying position on the ground, he looked up to see a tall, muscular man with long black hair and a cape. Not to mention, a jar of sake in his right hand. Kenshin's mouth dropped in surprise. "H-Hiko-sensei!"

The man stared down at him and smirked, "at least he has some manners." Kenshin gritted his teeth and stood up beside Kaoru, glaring at her uncle.

"Hiko-oji-san, this is Himura Kenshin. Kenshin, this is Seijuuro Hiko." Kaoru said politely. The two bowed at each other and they were led into Hiko's dojo.

* * *

Once they sat comfortably in the living room, Hiko cleared his throat and faced Kenshin. "So Kaoru says you need a place to stay; care to tell me your story?"

"I'm a former hitokiri who was called "Hitokiri Battousai". When I was walking through Tokyo, not this Tokyo, there was a bright light and I appeared in Kaoru's room. And basically, I have no place to go and I don't know what to do." After saying this, he bowed down and added, "please allow me to stay at your dojo."

Hiko stared at him in shocked confusion then turned to Kaoru, "You mean you brought a MURDERER to my dojo?" Kaoru inched back and flinched as she replied nervously, "well… yeah…"

After a few moments of silence, Hiko shrugged, "sure, why not?" Sweatdrops appeared on Kaoru's and Kenshin's foreheads as they fell over from his sudden reaction.

Hiko gazed at Kenshin and commented, "but he can't borrow my clothes." Kenshin raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "I can see that." Hiko glowered at him and retorted, "But you'll have to work here in exchange for letting you stay."

"Hai, Seijuuro-san. What are the things I have to do?" Kenshin asked as he bowed his head on the tatami mat.

"First off: you will call me Shishou! And you will do the cooking sweeping, the laundry, and shopping." Hiko said, counting each of the chores with his fingers. Kenshin looked at him wearily thinking, "He's exactly like the Hiko I knew…" "And," Continued Hiko, after a sip of sake, "I will be teaching you also! Even if you are a hitokiri, I will make sure you will sharpen your skills. After all… You also practice the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu."

Kenshin nodded absentmindedly, muttering, "hai, shishou…" In his head, he wondered if his teaching skills were similar to his teacher in the past and hoping not.

Hiko smirked, already planning what evil tactics of teaching he would use on his new baka deshi. Then, he turned to his niece and said, as he handed her a handful of bills "Kaoru, bring this baka to the mall and buy him some new clothes. He looks like an oversized bed sheet in your father's clothes." Kenshin glowered at the larger man and his giggling niece in annoyance.

The two teenagers bowed to Hiko and stood up to leave when Hiko told them that he was going to take care of the school affairs. With one last farewell, they parted, leaving the sakabatou on the tatami-covered floor.

* * *

Once they were out of the dojo, Kenshin mumbled, "He's exactly like my teacher…" Kaoru laughed and replied, "I'll pray that you don't die when I leave you here."

After a few moments of laughter, Kaoru said, "Well, come on! We still have to buy your whole wardrobe in a day. Not to mention, some other things you'll need for school." She held up the fistful of money she was given, "And Hiko-oji-san has kindly given us enough money for that!"

Kenshin grinned and questioned as he returned to his rurouni nature, "what's a mall, de gozaru yo?"


	5. Shopping Spree

**Chapter 5**

**Shopping Spree**

After taking 2 minutes and a half to explain to the red-head what a mall was, they took the bus to the nearest shopping centre. But of course, they took much more time than one was supposed to when someone just "travels" to the mall since Kenshin kept on asking questions about every modern thing that they happened to come across. Especially the ice cream truck.

"Kaoru-dono, what's that vehicle with that large… 'thing' on it, de gozaru ka?" Asked the red-haired teenager curiously, pointing at a white van with a large plastic ice cream cone on top.

Kaoru sighed for the 50th time during that hour. "That's an ice cream truck. The thing above it is an enlarged plastic ice cream cone."

"Ice cream?"

"Hai… It's a kind of frozen dessert."

"Ah, sou desu ka?" The rurouni turned to face her with pleading lavender eyes. "Can sessha have some, de gozaru?"

Kaoru's brow twitched in impatience, "maybe later…" She sighed once again before grumbling, "Can you please stop it with the 'sessha' and 'de gozaru'? It's really annoying"

The red-head's eyes reverted to gold faster than the blink of an eyes and the now turned battousai smirked in amusement. "Do you really like the hitokiri side 'that' much?"

"No, I don't!" Retorted the raven-haired girl as she reddened in frustration and embarrassment. "It's just annoying and hard to comprehend! Can't you act in a way that's between the hitokiri and the rurouni?"

Kenshin shrugged and replied, "I guess I could… I never tried it before." Kaoru stared at him dumbfounded. "You mean that you could've spoken normally but you just didn't feel like it?!" He shrugged again and said, "Yeah, that's basically it."

* * *

"You didn't have to hit me 'that' hard!!!" Exclaimed the now "normal"-speaking Kenshin in annoyance as he nursed his aching arm. 'Note to self,' he thought, 'dodge her punches.' 

"Shut up, rurouni. Just follow me so that we can get this over with." Kaoru snapped as she stoped her way into the mall's entrance. "Hai, hai, Kaoru-dono…" He mumbled in reply as he trailed behind her.

"I thought you said you'd speak normally now?" Kaoru muttered. "I am speaking normally!" Said Kenshin but added, "I just add the '–dono' because it's a habit."

"Whatever… At least I understand what you're saying." She said under her breath before telling him to follow her to a particularly large store that had a large sign at the window that read "Prices 50-75 Percent Off!"

"What's that?"

"Oh, enough with the questions already!"

* * *

"I'm done, Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin's voice announced from the other side of a wooden door that separated him from Kaoru. 

"Well, then come out." Kaoru answered impatiently.

"Demo…"

"What? Did you forget how to wear them again?" At this question, Kaoru tried to stifle a laugh, remembering what happened earlier, while Kenshin abstained from attacking the girl because of his embarrassment. Thankfully, there was no one else in the dressing room area.

"No, but I don't know if these really… 'suit' me…"

"Just come out!"

The sound of the door being unlocked was heard and Kenshin stepped out wearing a magenta tank top and white shorts… Showing his socks, which were pulled midway to his knees.

Poor Kenshin.

Kaoru burst out laughing and banged on the wall in her mirth. Not only did several people look around to find the source of the loud laughter, but they failed since there was a wall separating the pair from the rest of the store, Kenshin tripped on his shoelaces when he was trying to wring the neck of the black-haired girl, causing more laughter to erupt from her.

'Urgh… Why me?!' Kenshin thought as he forced himself off the ground; his face was as red as a ripe tomato.

"What on earth compelled you to choose…" Kaoru hiccupped doubtfully after settling (more or less) her giggles, looking at him carefully, "…such an outfit?"

"It was the same colour as my old clothes…" Kenshin said uncomfortably, tying his shoelaces to prevent any more… "accidents."

"Your fashion sense is weird." Kaoru said bluntly, making the poor rurouni fall on his side. "Change to your former clothes and I'll help you choose, ne?"

Kenshin nodded, his face still warm and flushing red, before he returned to the dressing room.

* * *

After going through several clothing stores, they plopped down on an empty bench near the food court in exhaustion. Around them were dozens of shopping bags. 

"Are we done yet?" Kenshin asked expectantly between pants. 'Not even the training with shishou was this exhausting!' But after a mental image of Hiko torturing him, he reconcindred, thinking to himself, 'close enough.'

"Iie. We still have to but you some shoes. You can't go around using Otou-san's shoes!" Kaoru replied then stood up from her seat.

"Are we going again 'already'?!" Kenshin whined like a little kid and slouched on the bench. "Can't you wait for 5 more minutes?"

"Oh, don't worry. Just stay here; I'll be right back." With those words she left, hidden by the crowd of busy shoppers.

"Fine… I'll rest here."

* * *

"Where is she?" Kenshin muttered, a vein popping up on the side of his head. 15 minutes had already passed but his black-haired friend had yet to return from her 'short' trip. 

Fidgeting with the end of his shirt, he finally got up. His eyes flashed gold in annoyance. The rurouni may be patient, but the battousai was not one to wait. 'When she comes back, I'll punch her.' With that thought, he gathered all the bags, which was a very hard task, and walked down the hallway of the mall with difficulty.

Unfortunately, Kenshin did not know anything about the mall, besides that he hated them, and ended up lost.

'I'm going to fricking kill her!' He yelled inwardly in anger as he tried retracing his steps through the large mob.

"Kenshin! There you are!"

He swivelled around at the sound of Kaoru's voice, preparing to scream his head off but stopped abruptly at the sight of her.

She carefully manoeuvred herself past the people toward him; in each hand, she held an ice cream cone. Exactly like the one they saw on the ice cream truck.

"Kaoru-dono…?"

"I finally found you! I went back to the bench but you weren't there! And you even took all those bags with you!" She scolded him like a child. "I told you to stay put!"

"Kaoru-dono, is that for me?" Kenshin inquired hesitantly; his eyes slowly turning into a light amethyst colour.

Kaoru smiled brightly and nodded. "Hai! You wanted to try it, ne? So I got it for you!"

A smile crept on Kenshin's face. "Domo arigatou, Kaoru-dono…" His hand went up to accept the cone but Kaoru pulled it away from his reach.

The hitokiri blinked in confusion before looking up at her.

"Call me Kaoru." She told him.

He stared at her in surprise before grinning. "Okay… Kaoru."

He attempted to get the cone again but his hand fell to his side from the weight of the bags. A giggle escaped Kaoru's lips as she helped him carry the other bags as they continued their shopping spree; both of them eating a vanilla ice cream cone.

* * *

AN: Gomen nasai for not updating in such a long time! Hontou ni, gomen nasai! I've been EXTREMELY busy! 

I can't answer any reviews at the moment since I'm supposed to be sleeping right now. I might update the chapter with the reviews next time!

Please review!


	6. School Time!

**Chapter 6**

**School Time!**

By the time they arrived from their mission, buying Kenshin a completely new wardrobe, the pair was exhausted. Who knew that one simple shopping spree could be so hectic? (AN: I do!) Okay, there were some cases, but generally, their dilemma didn't happen to anybody else. Unless you have a samurai from the Bakumatsu era transported to the present, you would know exactly what they went through. Let's just hope you don't.

"We're back." Kaoru announced wearily, as she shut the shoji door behind her and collapsed on the tatami-covered floor. Kenshin, was far ahead of her as he was already snoozing against the wall.

Surprisingly, or not, Hiko came out from the opposite door and muttered, "about time!"

Kaoru glared at her uncle and snapped, "well, try taking this baka to the mall on a 'weekend' and experience some agony, why don't you?"

Hiko rubbed his chin pensively and mumbled, "That makes sense." Then he sat down by on a cushion and poured himself a cup of sake. "Want some?"

"Ojii-san, I'm a minor." Kaoru said flatly as she sat up.

Hiko merely shrugged and replied, "It's not like anyone's going to know." Then he turned to the sleeping red-head and said, "Watch." The large man walked up to his unsuspecting victim, opened his mouth and poured the whole bottle of sake into it. And this isn't just any sake. The whole Hiko line made homemade sake that was stronger than any wine ever invented! Sure, Kenshin drank sake when he was in the war, but not Hiko's specialty sake.

Poor little red-head.

The results were immediate. Kenshin eyes opened groggily and hiccups came one after the other. "Wha's goin' oon 'eere?"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. It was hard enough understanding a drunken man's slurred words but the way Kenshin hiccupped after nearly every other syllable made it even more incomprehensible.

"Ojii-san! What did you do?"

Evil laughter was heard from the gigantic man who was snickering in the corner, drinking out of another bottle of sake.

"Ga'ru-do'o?"

Kaoru switched her attention to the drunken rurouni who was swaying from side to side. "I beg your pardon?"

His eyes flickered to her once before closing and he collapsed to the floor once again.

"What the heck is 'Garudoo'?" Kaoru wondered out loud before kicking the idiot from her path and gathering her things. "Ojii-san, I'll be going now. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Un, leave the bakadeshi with me." Her uncle replied lethargically, leaving Kaoru uncertain about his assurance as she left the dojo.

* * *

"Ojii-san! I'm here to bring Kenshin to school!" Kaoru yelled as she pushed open the wooden gate and entered the empty courtyard.

Of course, empty doesn't always mean silent.

Screams and crashes erupted from the dojo as Kaoru searched for the pair. Soon, as she was running in the hallway, she saw a pair of chopsticks burst through the ricepaper door.

"What's going on in here?!" Kaoru exclaimed as she open the door to reveal Hiko gobbling down some rice while Kenshin sat on the tatami with a wok planted firmly on his head.

"Oh, there's the girl." Hiko said, pointing at his niece. "Hurry up, bakadeshi, before I decide to make you do more chores."

The rurouni need not be told twice and was out the door before the kenjutsu master could utter another word, dragging Kaoru along with him.

* * *

"What on Earth was going on at the dojo?" Kaoru inquired once they had stopped at the bus stop. Although Kenshin could run extremely fast and had a ton of stamina, running for his life took a toll on the poor samurai and he collapsed to the floor after her final word.

"Eto…" Kenshin wheezed, panting heavily as he clutched his new leather school bag in his arm. "Shishou decided to 'start my training early'." He emphasised the words with the movement of his fingers. "Meaning… he wanted to make me his slave and force me to do all the housework starting at 4 am."

Kaoru cringed at the thought, knowing full-well the kind of horrors her uncle could create with just seemingly innocent 'chores' having experienced it herself.

"I feel your pain," Kaoru told the traumatized teen, patting his shoulder sympathetically. "Anyway, stand up, so that I can see if you wore your uniform properly."

She pulled him by the arm and checked his clothing as he stood straight and expectant. The male uniform was composed of dark blue pants and a matching blazer which had the school logo on it, a white collar shirt, and a necktie. Nothing could possibly be out of place, ne?

A stifled giggle was heard as her eyes landed at the base of his neck.

"Nani?" Kenshin asked in a worried tone, looking down at the object of her amusement.

The necktie was a fist-sized knot of blue fabric at the base of his neck, completely hiding the view of his neck from the front.

After 5 second of trying her best to keep her laughter in, Kaoru burst laughing while Kenshin tried his best to hide his embarrassment. "It's wrong?" He questioned her as his face assumed a confused expression, making the black-haired girl chortle even more.

"O-okay." She stuttered after a few seconds, pulling at the fabric. "Here, I'll do it for you."

She took a small step closer to him and carefully undid the knot. "Why didn't you ask Ojii-san?" Kaoru asked as she worked on tugging out the impossible tangle. "Ano…" Kenshin started, face turning a pale shade of pink caused by not 'only' his embarrassed reply, "I was scared to do so since… uh… I'm scared of him."

"Of course you are! He's an evil psycho!" Kaoru exclaimed. "Un, that's right!" Kenshin agreed.

After a couple of minutes of practically choking Kenshin to remove the cursed necktie, Kaoru finally managed to retie it properly around his neck.

"There! Much better!" Kaoru announce proudly, patting his shoulder. "You actually look like a regular 21st century teenager!"

Kenshin stared at the necktie in amazement, muttering, "so _that's_ how you do it!" like a buffoon. Then again, he could be called a buffoon indeed.

Kaoru sweat dropped at the immature idiot before sighing in annoyance and knocking on his skull. "Hello! Earth to Kenshin? Are you back from the land of the idiots?"

Kenshin, knocked out from his reverie blinked at her in confusion. "Nani?"

Kaoru pointed behind her shoulder with her thumb at the bus. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up."

And, after a few seconds of shuffling for his things, they got on the crowded bus and were off.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the pair arrived at the front of the gates of the school, panting and bickering. Bickering about what, you ask? Well…

"You paid the bus driver with a coin from the Bakumatsu era? Are you insane? It's a good thing I stopped the driver from wringing your neck before you put that thing in the coin slot!" Kaoru exclaimed between pants as they entered the main building.

"It's not my fault! It said 'Insert money here' and it's not like I had any money from this century!" Kenshin snapped in annoyance.

"Shut up, would you? Unless you want everyone to know you're an idiot hitoriki from the Bakumatsu!" Kaoru barked as she pulled him to her shoe locker by the collar of his uniform, successfully shutting him up.

"I-tte!" Kenshin chocked out breathlessly, clutching his neck. "Oh, gomen!" Kaoru said apologetically, releasing her grip on him and opening her locker.

Pulling out her white indoor shoes, she resumed their previous argument saying, "Anyway, I already paid your fare since I wasn't sure if Ojii-san gave you any money. That's why I said, 'Come one Kenshin, I paid already'!"

Kenshin, who was rubbing his neck to ease the pain from her earlier actions, looked up at her dubiously and asked, "You did?"

A vein popped up on her forehead, her fist clenching in preparation for her next act of violence. "Baka!"

"Oi, Kaoru!"

Both Kaoru and Kenshin, who was currently nursing his latest bruise, turned to see two tall males, one with black hair and one with spiky brown hair, and one petite female with a long black braid.

"Ohayou, Kaoru-chan!" Misao greeted as she bounded up to her cheerfully. Stopping beside Kaoru to get her shoes from the locker beside hers, she noticed the redhead and inquired curiously, "who's that?"

"Ah!" Kaoru squeaked in realization as the other two approached. Kenshin, on the other hand, muttered an "oro" and continued to stare at them from behind Kaoru.

Sano peered behind Kaoru and questioned, "Jou-chan, who's the short guy behind you?" Aoshi just silently took out his shoes as the other two bombarded the raven-haired girl with questions.

Kaoru sweatdropped nervously as she felt Kenshin tense behind her. One thing that you must never mention to the Battousai is his height. Or his lack of height. "Ano… actually…"

"Oh, I know!" Sano suddenly exclaimed, tapping his fist on his open palm. "He's you boyfriend!" His right pinkie was held up in the air and a goofy grin was plastered on his face.

The next thing Sano knew, he was face flat on the floor with a bruise on his left cheek.

Kaoru pulled back her fist and grabbed the surprised red-head before running down the hallway, yelling behind her. "Shut up, Sanosuke!"


	7. Starting Anew

**Chapter 7  
Starting Anew**

"Here we are."

The two stopped in front of a door with the label 'Staff' on it. After successfully running away from Kaoru's friends, they resumed their previous task of going to the staff's office to enroll Kenshin into the school.

"What are we doing here?" Kenshin asked, eyeing the sign. The rurouni sensed a disturbing aura from behind the door but couldn't tell what it was. The poor rurouni didn't even have a chance.

"We're going to register you. So get in." Without further ado, she opened the door and shoved him with her.

* * *

The two teenagers were now seated in the office of the principal, who sat across from them, behind his large oak desk. A name plat was propped up on the desk with golden kanji that read "Shishio Makoto: Principal".

Bandages covered most of the principal's skin that wasn't hidden by his clothes, giving him a scary appearance, not to mention a nickname "Mummy", besides the fact he practically glared at everyone 24/7, had a devilish laugh (which seemed to erupt in every conversation concerning his students), and an imposing aura about him. Despite these, he often wondered why his "minions" were so scared of him. (This often resulted to people thinking "Have you looked in a mirror lately?" or "Minions"?)

The mummy-looking man scratched his chin thoughtfully, or merely hid the fact that he had mosquito bite hidden under his bandage that was irritating him, as he gazed upon the pair.

The red-head stared at him with wide eyes thinking, "Shishio Makoto, the hitoriki?!" His female companion on the other hand was wishing she didn't have to stay in the same room as Mummy-sensei.

"So… Kamiya-san, is this the new student you uncle told me about yesterday?" Asked Shishio.

"Hai, sensei." Replied Kaoru with a nod. "He's the son of a friend of my uncle and because of some personal reasons, he came to Tokyo to study and is currently under my uncle's custody."

"Aa, I see." He then turned to the said person and said, "What's your name?"

"Himura Kenshin."

The older man then took a folder from a filing cabinet and gave Kenshin 2 papers from it. "This is your schedule, get you books from the teacher, fill in this form and give it to the very same teacher tomorrow, Kamiya-san will be your escort, and good day."

With that, they were shown out the door; both of them confused and startled by his abrupt speech.

After a moment of silence, Kenshin turned to Kaoru and let out a confused, "E?"

Kaoru shrugged and answered, "No idea" then asked for the papers in his hand.

"The form, we'll worry about later but keep in your bag." She handed back the form and Kenshin followed her instructions before she continued. "This schedule is exactly like mine… I guess they did that on purpose. And we have homeroom now with Hajime-sensei."

"Hajime?" asked the confused rurouni, who was now having another bout of déja vu.

Kaoru blinked at his anxious expression curiously and inquired, "What's wrong?"

"From the Bakumatsu-"

"What?! Again? Man… there's something freaky about this. Did you do something bad in your past? Wait! Don't answer! You were a hitokiri, of course you did something bad!"

Kenshin sweatdropped as Kaoru mulled over the complexities of Kenshin's life. "Yeah… Thanks for the credit."

"You're welcome now come; we have to get to class!"

* * *

"Ohayou gozaimasu. Today, we have a new student joining us." Saito announced as he entered the classroom, which became surprisingly silent when he came in.

"Ja…" The Mibu turned his head in the direction of the door and called, "oi, bakadeshi, come in."

The whole class gaped at him in shock. 'Bakadeshi?!'

Behind, the door, the rurouni had changed to battousai mode for a moment, debating whether he should break down the door and kill the reincarnate of his greatest foe although he might have the same skills as his Bakumatsu counterpart.

"Oi, are you deaf? Get in!"

At that moment, the slid open with a bam and the redhead stepped in, dangerously close to attacking his new teacher who calmly said "don't break my door" at his outburst.

"Introduce yourself." Saito ordered, indicating to the chalkboard.

"A… Hai…"

Curious as ever, he picked up the white stick and examined it closely until, of course, Saito hit him on the head with a meter stick with an annoyed "Get on with it. Haven't you seen a piece of chalk before? Baka…"

With a growl, Kenshin hastily wrote his name on the board and said out loud, "Himura Kenshin desu."

"Sou ka…" Saitou muttered, then gathered a few textbooks and handed it to him. "These are your books… Sit next to the ugly one."

"…The ugly one?" Kenshin asked with a confused look on his face.

"The Rooster-head."

Before Kenshin could utter a word, Sano jumped from his seat with the malicious intention of decapitating his "beloved" sensei. "Who'd you call a Rooster-head?! You f-"

All of a sudden, Sano was sprawled on the floor, Megumi and Misao standing beside him with clenched fists.

"I—tte!"

Kenshin stared at the three in shock. 'Kaoru has weird friends…'

"Get back to your seats." Saito ordered coldly, making the class sigh in relief and vowing silently to kill Sano after first period. When Saito-sensei is mad, everyone suffers.

* * *

"Sano, you baka!"

"Itai!" The tall brown-haired imbecile yelled in pain, caressing one of the many new bruises he received once he stepped out of the classroom. "You already punched me twice, Misao!"

"That's because you kicked my chair in class too!" Replied the girl in outrage.

"Yeah, because you knocked me down!"

Megumi smacked him in the arm growling, "If you just shut up, you wouldn't have ended up this way, baka."

"Itte!"

Kenshin sweatdropped at the sight, scratching his head awkwardly. "Uh…"

"Would you guys stop?!" Kaoru exclaimed in annoyance, slapping the Rooster-head yet again. Then, turning to Kenshin, she smiled apologetically as she said "gomen ne… My friends can be very rowdy at times…" But after stealing a glance in Aoshi and Soujirou's direction, she whispered, "Well… Some of them."

After receiving an irritated "hey" from the three idiots, Kaoru shushed them with a flick of the wrist. "Anyway…" Kaoru said giving the three a glare, "I'll introduce you guys. Mina-san, this is Himura Kenshin-kun, he's the son of my uncle's friend." Kenshin bowed to them after the carefully memorized introduction.

"Yo shorty!" Sano greeted with a smirk, not knowing that he was already on Kenshin's death list after meeting him for merely a few minutes. "I'm Sagara Sanosuke. The fox is Takani Megumi, my girlfriend. The midget Itachi is Makimachi Misao. The smiley-man's Keta Soujirou. And the ice block is Shinamori Aoshi."

Then again, Sano was already on the death list of many people so he might not get his turn.

So, yet again, Sano was left on the floor while the others went to their next classes.

"Your friends are bizarre."

Kaoru twitched, replying in a low tone, "hai, I know that by now, domo arigatou." Her clenched hand raised in the air, poised and ready to hit him.

Kenshin eyed the hand warily, muttering underneath his breath, "Just like you…" But the poor idiot underestimated the girl as he was once again hit on the head.

'Is it me or are all my "new" friends abusive or abused?'


	8. Kenshin, the unlucky samurai!

**Chapter 8**

**Kenshin, the unlucky samurai!**

A growl of hunger emitted from Kenshin's stomach as he exited the classroom while the bell rang throughout the school. Despite being an expert hitokiri who faced many difficulties during the Bakamatsu, he counted this day as the worst day of his life. It's even worse than the time Hiko-shishou forced him to massage his stinky feet. (And that is one of the worst things anyone could ever do in their lives.)

Not only did he have to figure out how to do calculus, he had to figure out how to use the stupid calculator in the first place! Not to mention using a computer! He also somehow managed to spill some weird chemical on his sleeve cuff during chemistry so it now sometimes appeared as if it was glowing.

With a tired sigh, Kenshin gave his cuff one last unsuccessful attempt at removing the neon blue stain.

"Rough day?"

Kenshin nodded unhappily at his raven haired companion who patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Think of it this way," Said Kaoru optimistically, "At least the stain matches your uniform!"

Okay… not so sympathetic after all.

Kenshin's amber eyes glared at her, mentally blaming her for everything wrong that happened to him.

'Why couldn't I have appeared at someone else's room?!' mentally questioned the rurouni in annoyance. 'Why not someone sane for once? But no! Now I'm surrounded by imbeciles and weirdoes!'

He was snapped out of his reverie when his stomach growled again. Embarrassed, he turned to face Kaoru, who was clearly near laughter, with a pleading pout. "Ja, let's go eat!"

* * *

"What am I supposed to do again?"

Kenshin looked at Kaoru questioningly, waving his lunch tray before her and shaking the change in his hand. They stood in the cafeteria waiting line, Kaoru carefully explaining the oh-so-complicated procedure of 'paying for your food' for the seventh time.

"Konnichiwa Soujirou!" Kaoru greeted as they finally sat down with the said person, who was happily chewing on… well, who know what it was? Even the smiling teenager was trying to figure out what he was chewing while he greeted the two back.

"Ah, this must be the boyfriend that Sano was blabbering to me about during geography!" Soujirou commented, his smile broadening, if that was even possible. Kaoru choked on a hotdog at the word and Kenshin spat out his rice.

"That birdbrain told you that?!" A nerve throbbed above her eyebrow dangerously, which went unnoticed by Soujirou. Kenshin, on the other hand, moved away from her in fright.

"Remind me to kill him." She growled under her breath, stabbing her tempura with her chopsticks.

Sano, seeming to have really bad timing, appeared at their table right at that moment, tray in hand and a large grin pasted on his face. "Hi guys! So… Kaoru's 'friend', how's school so far?"

Kaoru glared at him and flipped his tray over so that its contents now covered his front side. She concealed a smirk as she muttered "Oops, it's was an accident."

This did not console Sano who proceeded to yell something about "having to pay back the Kitsune and the Ice Block for the money he borrowed to buy his lunch." Nor did Soujirou's pats on his unruly brown hair (which will, perhaps, never be tamed).

Kaoru stifled a giggle as she watched Sano continue with his hysterics. Kenshin could have sworn he heard her mutter "serves you right" when she did this.

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar masculine voice spoke up amidst their crazy display of stupidity. "Maa, screaming so early in the morning; don't you have anything better to do Sagara-san?"

All heads turned to the source of the voice to see a fellow male student smirking at Sano. Or at least Kenshin thought he was a student, considering the fact that he was wearing a uniform but he also had… 'White hair?!' The rurouni openly stared at the newcomer in bewilderment.

Kaoru rolled her eyes before flashing the white haired male a strained smile. "Konnichiwa, Yukishiro-san."

The man gave grinned at her, stepping forward to take her hand and plant a quick kiss on it; oblivious to the fact that Kaoru cringed at the mere contact of their skins and that Sano was giving him a very rude gesture right at that moment. "It's nice to see you on this pleasant day, Kaoru-san." As he let go of her hand, he noticed Kenshin looking up at him from his chair. (Or rather, looking at his hair, but he didn't know that.)

"Who's this?"

Kaoru hid the 'contaminated' hand behind her back and proceeded to wipe it against the fabric of her skirt without his notice and indicated to Kenshin with her other hand. "This is Himura Kenshin, a new student. Kenshin, this is Yukishiro Enishi. He's one of our senpai; also the vice-president of the student council."

The two men inclined their heads in acknowledgement, engaging in a rather intense glaring competition.

"Nice to meet you, Himura-san," Enishi greeted icily, a tone Kenshin didn't fail to notice. On the contrary, Kenshin felt irritated with the stranger also.

"And you as well."

Enishi turned back to Kaoru and bade her farewell before striding off somewhere, a place that the group hoped was very far away.

"Thank goodness he's gone!" Kaoru breathed out a sigh of relief, sitting back down to finish her food.

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "Why? You two seem close."

Kaoru shook her head fervently. "He's so annoying!" After muttering something about a 'white-haired imbecile', she resumed her former task of eating her lunch.

Just as Kenshin was about to do the same, he heard a whisper beside his ear saying, "that freak just likes Jou-chan but he's so blind that he can't see that she loathes him."

Kenshin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Yeah, I figured."

The bell rang before the conversation could continue any further; Kenshin and Kaoru separated from the rest of the group, waving good-bye as they ran to their next class.

'Hopefully this class doesn't result in something like this as well…' Kenshin thought wearily as he stared down at his neon cuff.

* * *

"Kenshin! Where are you?"

Kaoru entered the dining room, the 3rd door she had to go through to find the red-head. Hiko was outside "meditating", if meditating meant lying on a beach chair, shirtless and wearing shades while applying suntan lotion on himself in the middle of spring, but the rurouni was nowhere to be found.

Sliding the door closed, she slipped back into the hallway and turned down another corridor. 'Honestly! You'd someone with hair like that could be found easily!'

An indistinct voice at the end of the hallway caught her attention and she immediately walked toward it. "Kenshin?" She whispered, opening the shoji door, only to be attacked by a flying… calculator?

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

Kaoru stared wide-eyed at the crazed hitoriki who brandished his sword with the intention of violently obliterating the innocent calculator.

"What are you doing, baka?! I had to buy that for you!!!" Kaoru yelled, throwing the nearest object she could find, namely: Kenshin's chemistry book, at him.

Upon being hit by the hardbound book, Kenshin let out a loud "Oro!" and let go of his sakabatou. His golden eyes turned deep violet and stared at her. "What are you doing here?"

She picked up the calculator, which was thankfully still functioning properly, and replied, "I came to help you with you work… But apparently, you need a psychiatrist, not me."

"Psychiatrist?"

Rolling her eyes, Kaoru said, "Never mind." She then walked toward him, saying, "If you had this much trouble, why didn't you ask oji-san?"

Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "That baka? Every time I even mention 'help' or 'homework', he runs away saying that he's too busy or makes me do more chores than I already have. I don't even see him do any work!"

Kaoru sighed, thinking, 'what an idiot of an uncle… And he's just sunbathing outside!' "Well, he is a baka but he does work. Remember the sign in front? He runs a dojo but the main entrance to that is at the other side of the property, so you can't really see or hear the students all the way over here."

The redhead stared at her dumbly. "There's another side to this place?"

"You never tried to look around, did you?"

He shook his head. "Hiko makes me do chores most of the time. I could swear that he's a slave driver!"

Stroking her chin, Kaoru nodded absentmindedly to herself. "Yeah, you're probably right…"

"What are you doing here anyway?" Kenshin asked, eyeing the girl in front of him as he sat down on a nearby chair, kicking a discarded sock away from it as he did so.

"Oh!" Kaoru sat down on the unfolded futon that lay on the floor. "I was just wondering if you needed some help… You know, with homework…?"

The rurouni looked down at her expectant face curiously. "You're…" He started to say then covered his mouth, shaking his head slowly.

"I'm what?"

"Nothing."

Irritated, Kaoru pulled on his pant leg. "C'mon, tell me! I won't get mad."

"It was nothing! Just forget about it." Kenshin blurted out, turning away, only to be pulled by the end of his shirt onto the floor.

Unfortunately for Kaoru, Kenshin stretched out his arm in her direction as he tumbled off his seat, in an attempt to break his fall, and brought her down with him. This, however, didn't go as planned since Kaoru just fell on his abdomen, making the impact of his descent worse.

"What was-?!" He started to yell but the shoji door opened once again, making him turn his attention to it.

Surprisingly, the people who opened the door turned out to be Soujiro, Sano and Aoshi. The trio stared at the two on the floor; shock evident in their eyes.

"Hey guys…" Sano greeted in embarrassment. The tall man rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes shifted away from the pair, but the way the corner of his mouth twitched upward in an inward smirk indicated that he, and probably the other two as well, was thinking of something weird again.

"Hi there." Kenshin returned his greeting monotonously, knowing exactly what was going through their minds. 'I must be the most unlucky person alive.'


End file.
